404 th BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (HEAVY)

Transcription

1 404 th BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (HEAVY) LINEAGE 14 th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) constituted, 20 Nov 1940 Activated, 15 Jan 1941 Redesignated 404 th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22 Apr 1942 Inactivated, 5 Jan 1947 STATIONS Miami Mun Aprt, FL, 15 Jan 1941 MacDill Field, FL, 11 Jun 1941 Barksdale Field, LA, 7 Feb 1942 (operated from Ladd Field, AK, beginning 12 Jul 1942, and from Nome, AK, 18 Ju1 1942) Will Rogers Field, OK, 25 Ju (operated from Umnak 24 Aug 1942) Ft Lewis, WA, 30 Aug-10 Sep 1942 (operated from Adak, 13 Sep 1942) Elmendorf Field, AK, 21 Sep 1942 Adak, 22 Mar 1943 (operated from Amchitka beginning 4 Jun 1943), 26 Feb 195 Jan 1947 ASSIGNMENTS 44 th Bombardment Group, attached, 15 Jan 1941, and assigned on 25 Feb th Composite (later Bombardment) Group, air echelon attached c.12 Jul 1942, squadron assigned 21 Sep 1942 Eleventh Air Force (later Alaskan Air Command), 20 Oct Jan 1947 WEAPON SYSTEMS B-24, ASSIGNED AIRCRAFT SERIAL NUMBERS

2 ASSIGNED AIRCRAFT TAIL/BASE CODES UNIT COLORS COMMANDERS HONORS Service Streamers Campaign Streamers Antisubmarine, American Theater Air Offensive, Japan Aleutian Islands Air Combat, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers Decorations Distinguished Unit Citation Kuril Islands, 1 Apr 1913 Aug 1945 EMBLEM Over and through a light green disc, bordure black, piped white, a caricatured white elephant running, wearing aviator s goggles with gold rim trimmed black, black belt about the waist, holding two machine guns pointing to rear, grasping a large yellow aerial bomb upraised in trunk, having two black machine guns for tusks and ears in shape of wings, soles of hind feet brown. (Approved, 21 Nov 1942) EMBLEM SIGNIFICANCE MOTTO NICKNAME OPERATIONS Antisubmarine patrols in Gulf of Mexico, Feb-Jun 1942; combat in Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and Northern Pacific, 18 Jul 1913 Aug Radar mapping of Aleutians and Alaska, Following the Dutch Harbor attack, the Japanese landed forces on the western Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska. Additional reinforcements consisting of the 21st and 404th Bombardment Squadrons, equipped with B-24s; the 406th Bombardment Squadron, A-29s; the 54th Fighter Group, P-39s; and 54th Fighter Squadron, P-38s were sent to Alaska. The Eleventh Air Force launched an air offensive against the Japanese on the two islands. After a five-month break, the Eleventh Air Force resumed the missions against the northern Kuriles and continued to fly them until the end of the war. The 404th Bombardment Squadron operated from with its B-24s, and the 73rd and 77th Bombardment Squadrons flew from Alexie with B-25s.

3 The three squadrons conducted some of the longest over-water flights of the war under the most adverse weather conditions, and were able to tie down a significant number of Japanese, including ten percent of its air force, who could have been employed to advantage elsewhere. The "Real" Story on how the unit ended up with the "Pink Elephant" as the Squadron Emblem From the Official History of the 11th Air Force... On July 8th (1942) the 404th Bombardment Squadron arrived in the Alaskan theater with B-24 aircraft originally destined for the North African theater. The Liberators, brand new, were painted with a brilliant pink camouflage, satisfactory for desert warfare and admirably unsuited for Alaska use. The squadron appropriately was nick-named "The Pink Elephants" and the unit insignia, a flying pink elephant with fifty-caliber machine guns for tusks and carrying in his raised trunk a bomb, rampant upon a blue background, became one of the most familiar in the Alaskan Theater. Sgt J. B. Nunn, one of the outstanding cartoonists was responsible for this nightmare which was approved as the squadron's official insignia. The book "Combat Squadrons of the Air Force - World War II published by the Department of the Air Force describes the emblem of the 404th BS as follows: Over and through a light green disc, bordure black, piped white, a caricatured white elephant running, wearing aviators goggles with gold rim trimmed black, black belt about the the waist, holding two machine guns pointing to rear, grasping a large yellow aerial bomb upraised in trunk, having two black machine guns for tusks and ears in shape of wings, soles of hind feet brown. (Approved 21 Nov 1942) Note: The comments in the official history report the elephant to be Pink, while the approved patch has a White elephant and the official history report says the background of the patch is Blue while the approved patch has a Green background. The 10,000-foot runway, along with two 5,000-foot cross runways supported a variety of aircraft. The 404th Bombardment Squadron flew B-24's along with one Beechcraft AT-7, which was used for navigator training. The 344 th Fighter Squadron flew both P-40s and P-38s. In addition, a North American AT-6 was utilized for pilot training. One RB-34, a UC-64A and numerous TB-26s were flown by the 15th Tow Target Squadron that was stationed on. Many administrative and cargo aircraft, such as the C-47 flew in and out of during the war. In March 1944, the pouring of concrete piers for a fighter hangar was also completed. After digging the drainage ditches and laving the drainage pipe, all work had to stop until the required lumber from Attu arrived in the last week of March. By the end of May, this hangar was complete and in operation. In addition to the fighter hangar, was also authorized one Kodiak "T" hangar and fourteen

4 Birchwood hangars. The first Birchwood Hangar was erected on the north side of the main runway, 2,500 feet from the west end. But only six of the fourteen hangars had been completed by the end of the war. Hangar Number One was for the Navy; Number Two was for the Base Engineer; the 344th Fighter Squadron used Hangar Number Three, while the 11th Fighter Squadron had Number Four. The last two, Numbers Five and Six, were utilized by the two other combat flying squadrons on - the 15th Tow Target Squadron and the 404 th Bombardment Squadron. As a direct result of the Japanese air raid on Attu on October 13, 1943, the 54th Fighter Squadron, flying P-38's arrived on from Amchitka. Another transfer for base defense purposes was the bringing of thirty-one dogs and seven handlers to in October, The removal from Adak and transfer to of the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, XI Bomber Command on January 8, 1944, attested to the importance of for bombing operations. Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron of the 28th Bombardment Group, Composite, was ordered to from Adak on January 10th. On the eleventh, the 404th Bombardment Squadron (H) was ordered from Adak to. The Headquarters, XI Bomber Command officially opened on February 28, By the close of the month the average strength of the base had reached 126 officers and 1,216 enlisted men. This was the deepest penetration as of that date made into the Japanese homeland since the Doolittle- Halsey raid on Tokyo in April Over one year later, on May 10, 1945, one of the longest reconnaissance missions departed. Twelve B-24s of the 404th Bombardment Squadron (H), with an objective of Paramushiru, one the Kuril group of islands, divided into two groups of six each upon arrival over the target. One group photographed the western section while the other photographed the eastern section, and a total of over 1,300 negatives were taken. Personnel of the First Photo Flight (L) developed them, and made 8,000 prints in less than forty-eight hours. The next day the most successful bombing raid in the history of the 404 th took place. A twelve-plane flight, led by Captain Robert Wechman and Lieutenant Charles Weniger, found a clear sky and a shipping aisle. Several direct hits were scored on a destroyer escort and much damage was done to the harbor of Katsoka Naval Base. Another one of the longest overwater combat missions flown anywhere in the world until then took place on June 19, Lieutenants David Long and Paul Chinhenbeard, of the 404th, flew 2,700 miles on a photo reconnaissance mission over the island of Uruppu in the Kuriles. They were aloft 15 hours and 30 minutes. From January to August 1945 a total of 393 tons of bombs was dropped by the 404th. Of this tonnage, 56.3 per cent were by planes utilizing the airborne radar system. May and June were the busiest months of the year with approximately eighty-eight tons being dropped. The primary targets were Katacka Naval Base on the island of Shimishiru. In addition, in the Kuriles, Paramushiru and Shinush were attacked; the military and naval installations, along with the canneries which furnished much of Japan's food, were the priority targets on these islands. There were also some bright spots in the 404th history. The ground forces had a laugh on the Air Corps when a submarine was spotted and reported sunk. A dead whale was found in the vicinity a few hours later B-24D LAC Ramputi, Frederick R Ft Glenn B-24D BG FL Jones, James H Jr Herbert Is

5 B-24D CG MIS Payne, Richard A Bering Straits B-24D CG KCRT Ristad, Kenneth H B-24D MIS Harris, James L B-24D CG CRL Terry, Corbin U Ilak Is B-24D CmG KEX Geatches, Robert (NMI) Iliamni/35mi ENE B-24D Salzman, William A B-24D MIS Millard, Ellis F / 15mi SW B-24D Beale, William H B-24D Elliott, Kenneth E B-24D MIS Weise, Robert A Kamchatka Peninsula B-24D MACT Speicher, Gerald W B-24D FL Elliott, Kenneth E Petropavlovsk B-24D Craven, Arthur (NMI) B-24D Clinkenbeard, Paul S B-24M CpG Speicher, Gerald W Elmendorf B-24L McKinley, Paul A B-24L GAC Neumann, Paul E B-24D Long, David D /APO 729

6 B-24D AB GAC Leonard, Fred P AB B-24D APO 729 FLEF Kleinke, Richard B Petropavlovsk B-24M AF Salzman, William A AF [APO 729] AT-7A Neumann, Paul E B-24L KCR Brown, Ephraim B Alaid Is, Semichi Gap RB-24D Petit, Joseph G B-24M KCR Larson, John C B-24D CG Elmendorf Field, AK FLoGW Andrews, John Atka Island, AK B-24D BG Barksdale Field, LA TOA Walker, Raymond A. Adams Field, Little Rock, AR B-24D BG Ladd Field, AK LAC Lutton, Lyle D., Jr Nome AB, AK B BG Elmendorf Field, AK LAC Wall, James T Fort Randall, AK Air Force Order of Battle Created: 13 Aug 2011 Updated: Sources